1981 Final Four

I was playing around on youtube this morning and I found a video of the 1981 North Carolina-Virginia game they played in the Final Four that year. It wasn't just a highlight video, it was a video of the game in its entirety. This was the third time North Carolina and Virginia had played that year, with Virginia winning the first two times after North Carolina had double digit leads in the second half.

I really forgot how good of a player Al Wood was when he was at North Carolina. North Carolina also had a Freshman named Sam Perkins and a Sophomore named James Worthy. Virginia countered with all time leading scorer (at that time) Jeff Lamp and a 7'4" Sophomore named Ralph Sampson.

Al Wood scored a semifinal record 39 points in this game breaking Jerry West's record, 27 of those points in the second half. When Wood got hot, he was unstoppable. He scored on drives to the baskets, midrange jump shots, and even hit a long jump shot or two. He was 14 of 19 from the field and 11 of 13 from the free throw line and he carried the Tarheels in the second half. Sam Perkins had 11 points, Jimmy Black had 10, James Worthy had 8 points and Freshman Matt Doherty also had 8 points.

This game showcased Dean Smith's coaching at his finest. He had a game plan for Ralph Sampson and Same Perkins and the rest of the Tarheels surrounded him for the whole game and held him to 11 points on 3 for 10 shooting. Sam Perkins even went straight up with him late in the second half and blocked one of his jump shots. The Tarheels constantly changed defenses, ran full court presses, played man, played various zone defenses. It was a thing of beauty.

Watching this game made me miss the days of no shot clocks and no three point line. The games actually involved strategy, coaching, and it was the way basketball was meant to be played.